Mangrove isn't looking good...

[Vaideen]

One of my mangrove propagules isn't looking so great, I noticed just today that part of the stem appears to be almost decomposing, it's pretty dry on the inside. One of the leaves was looking quite shrivelled and I removed it.

 

On another note, the leaves of my other mangrove propagules are curling up, similar to the leaf in the pic. Otherwise they look completely healthy.

 

Btw I've been misting them with RO water a few times a day.

 

Any ideas on what's wrong?

 

[Clown79]

Maybe over misting them, too much light, too little light, not enough nutrients are the most common issues.

[Vaideen]

I thought they liked the humidity? Especially considering that I live in an arid climate.

 

Too much light, I don't think so. Too little, I don't think so either, I had them growing nicely in the same location but in a freshwater tank.

 

Could be the nutrients thing, the tank's bioload is pretty low (a single 1 inch goby and some inverts in a 30 gallon tank).

 

Also might have to do with magnesium levels, I need to get those checked out.

[RustyRocket]

Give the stem a squeeze, if its soft in anyway, the thing is too far gone. 

From the looks of the photo and what you described, I would say the water level is too high. They don't do well submerged in saltwater when they start budding leaves.  Usually they are planted maybe 1 or 2 inches before the node, but there's so many things that could have been the cause of the downturn. 

For example:

• Temperature shock (from shipping)
• Salinity Shock 
• Submerged for a significant amount of time
• Root destruction
• Or simply a weak or bad specimen 

It's the same with all livestock, sometimes you get real hardy ones, sometimes you don't. I had 8 of them in my sump, 6 of them are bursting with growth, one is stunted and stayed the same size. 

[Vaideen]

6 hours ago, RustyRocket said:

Give the stem a squeeze, if its soft in anyway, the thing is too far gone. 

From the looks of the photo and what you described, I would say the water level is too high. They don't do well submerged in saltwater when they start budding leaves.  Usually they are planted maybe 1 or 2 inches before the node, but there's so many things that could have been the cause of the downturn. 

For example:

• Temperature shock (from shipping)
• Salinity Shock 
• Submerged for a significant amount of time
• Root destruction
• Or simply a weak or bad specimen 

It's the same with all livestock, sometimes you get real hardy ones, sometimes you don't. I had 8 of them in my sump, 6 of them are bursting with growth, one is stunted and stayed the same size. 

 

• I bought them nearly a year ago, so temperature shock from shipping is unlikely, plus the temperature should be somewhat stable in my tank.
• Could be salinity shock, I have been dumping in quite a lot of RO water because the natural sea water I collect is slightly saltier than desirable (1.030).
• It hasn't been submerged for long, I got the water up to that level just yesterday as a result of the above point.
• Root damage is possible, I have been moving the mangroves around quite a bit in the past few months, but I'm now satisfied with where I have them, where they've been for about a month now.

This morning, I woke up to find another of my mangroves with a caterpillar inside of it and eating it. It left quite a bit of damage and I'm not sure if the mangrove will survive 😞. It's possible that the other mangrove is also afflicted by pests.

 

Edit: I amputated the affected part of the other mangrove, in hopes it grows back, and found no pests inside. Also, stems of all my plants are nice and firm.

 

The mangrove with the pest.

 

The mangrove I amputated.

[RustyRocket]

1 hour ago, Vaideen said:

This morning, I woke up to find another of my mangroves with a caterpillar inside of it and eating it. It left quite a bit of damage and I'm not sure if the mangrove will survive 😞. It's possible that the other mangrove is also afflicted by pests.

Wow...this is a first for me...looks like you found the problem. Good luck with treatment...document this, let us know how it goes. 

[Vaideen]

Actually only one had pests, still haven't figured out why the other one isn't look so hot. Both plants are now "amputated" btw

 

I'll go to test the water for magnesium levels today at the LFS I work at.

 

How should I be treating the plants?

 

Edit: Just noticed these brown blotches on the leaves of another mangrove, also note how the leaves are curled.

 

 

[Vaideen]

Turns out my magnesium levels are half of what they should be, so I got some magnesium additive to remedy that.